Climate Change revision

Rocks can be changed by climatic conditions and in environments that no longer exist

In Britain, coal was formed under hot, wet tropical conditions; sandstones were laid down during arid times; various limestones accumulated on the floors of warm seas; and glacial deposits were left behind by retreating ice sheets.

Fossil Landscapes

Produced by certain geomorpholo-gical processes which no longer operate

Glacially eroded highland in north and west Britain; granite tors on Dartmoor and wadis in deserts

Changes in sea level

Global sea levels have risen

Pollen analysis

Shows which plants were dominant at the time

Dendrochro-nology

Technique of obtaining a core from a tree-trunk and using it to determine the age of the tree

graves for human burial in Greenland which were dug to a depth of 2m in the 13th century, but only 1m depth in the 14th century and could not be dug at all in the 15th century due to the extension of permafrost

Fairs held on the frozen River Thames in Tudor times

The measurement of recent advances and retreats of Alpine glaciers

Global Climate Drivers

Seasonality

Temperatures travel north and south throughout the year

Global Air Circulation

As most air falls, it condenses and forms precipitation

As air rises, it gets cooler

Continentality

Continents of land are hotter compared to the sea

Land heats up more than the sea

Places in the centre of continents get more variation in temperature

Insolation

The amount of incoming radiation from the sun affecting a place

The rays are spread out more in the north and south compared to on the equator

Thermohaline Ocean Current

They are convection currents

Currents caused by the density of the water

The saltier the water, the denser the water is, therefore causing it to sink

How different climates respond

Polar climate

The polar region receives the suns radiation over a large area so it's less concentrated. The reason for it being dry is that it receives dry air from the polar cell.

Deserts

Deserts receive dry air from the Hadley cell so they get very small amounts of rain. Due to them being close to the equator they receive very concentrated rays from the sun

Tropical rainforest

Along the equator, air rises and it causes an area of moist air that is also hot and humid due to the suns radiation

Marine West Coast

Rising warm air causes low pressure and a lot of rainfall. The temperature are moderated by the oceans that surround it.